Multimedia Use in Church

From football to the olympics,
from home and garden to cooking how-to’s,
from movies to shopping from home,
from concerts to catastrophes, and
from news, weather and sports, to nothing-much-on channel surfing,
It’s a given. Video images, complete with sound, are part of our daily lives.
We watch the news, then catch streaming weather, traffic and sports information on [...]

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Worship Leader’s Prayer

I read a brief prayer again this morning  and my heart said “Amen”
Lord let us not become singers of trite songs, let us proclaim with powerful verse your holiness.

Let us not be speakers of cavalier words, let us declare your glory with every breath.
It’ the conclusion of a post by one of my favorite critical [...]

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I Love Optimism, Don’t You?

Today was a great day.
I got a lot done, much of which wasn’t on my list for today, but oh-well!
Today started bright and early with coffee at 7AM for an  idea and planning session with Brandon, a young, devoted husband and dad in our church who’s headed for full-time ministry. We met to discuss the [...]

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Sunday Morning and a Psalm on My Mind…

I’m thinking about the opening lines of Psalm 40 this morning:

I waited patiently for the Lord to help me,
and he turned to me and heard my cry.
[2] He lifted me out of the pit of despair,
out of the mud and the mire.
He set my feet on solid ground
and steadied me as I walked along.
[3] He [...]

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No Splash. None.

I respect and admire athletes who can dive.  The strength. The grace. The supreme concentration. The split-second execution after endless training, nearly perfect.
And no splash.
Maybe one of the reasons I admire these athletes so much is that their skills are so far beyond mine, admiration is all I can come up with.  In junior-high I [...]

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I’m Honored to Participate

Good morning!
My/our son Jared has revamped his blog, With | One | Voice with an admirable purpose and objective as it relates to worship ministry.  He’s asked me to contribute and it was an honor to say “Of course!”
Take a look, bookmark With | One | Voice so you can check in periodically to see [...]

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Packing my Library

A lot of people enjoy good books, and I’m one of them.  As a boy I’d fall asleep listening to Denver sports, a Hardy Boys mystery in-hand.  Dad would check on me, mark my page, click the radio off and turn out my light when he went to bed.
Dad instilled in me a love of [...]

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My Thankful Heart

I don’t think there’s a more grateful guy in all of SE Wisconsin today.
God has answered my prayers and the prayers of family & scores of friends. We received the call yesterday that Calvary Memorial Church in Gering, Nebraska had voted after church on Sunday morning —an overwhelming majority— and I was invited to join [...]

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Unplugged Worship and Praise

I’m leading a concert this afternoon.
But you can’t hear it.
There’s a praise team at the front of the platform, passionate singers, two to my left, two to my right. The rhythm section is compact and very precise.  “Tight” they’d say, “Comes from working together a lot.”
Too bad you can’t hear them.
The choir is 50, maybe [...]

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Think-Piece for Pastors and Leaders

Chuck has a way of  connecting A to B to C in a way that makes us think as church leaders -
Here’s his latest.
Plan to think a while once you finish – you’ll be better for it.

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